Friends

Love these guys!

First Snow

And it was the perfect snow for snowmen and snowball fights!

Heidi was like a bull out of a cage:)

The kids loved it, what an amazing sight for children. It truly is a wonderland to them. I love seeing their faces as I open the windows in the morning to show what God has done to an ordinary yard.

And it was the perfect amount of snow for Mommy, here today and gone tomorrow or the next:) I am already tired of boots and hats and gloves! A couple more snows like this and we can call it a winter.

Happy Birthday To Me

But wait, I still have one more month until I actually hit the 4th decade. But Steve knew this was the only way he could surprise me and also have my parents take part...and boy did he get me! I had absolutely no clue...I never thought he could pull this off but he proved me wrong. It was a wonderful birthday party, one I will never forget. The whole time I was struck with how very blessed I am...God has given me 2 wonderful families who love the Lord and many friends as well. I am more and more aware that many people can not say this. How grateful I am, how grateful I am that my children have so many beautiful godly examples to follow. Thank you my husband for loving me in so many ways, thank you family and friends for coming and celebrating with me and for helping Steve pull it off. And there were a couple people that were not here in body because of distance but they were in my thoughts and were missed as I thought about my past years. Thank you Lord for the past 40 years and for the two beautiful children you have given me. Now..if Steve would have told me to shower and dress a little better everything would have been perfect:)

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with my parents...very relaxed and filled with much laughter from us all. God is very, very kind to us, much more than we deserve. Some highlights from the kids were mealtimes with Gramma and Papa, story time throughout the day, swinging and playing "whap" and hiking.

We had a quick photo shoot at our favorite hiking place:

 And boy is it hard to get both kids looking AND smiling at the same time!

And last but not least:)

Two Peas In A Pod

Nathan and Lydia both have enjoyed pretending to be indian's so Daddy thought Nae might enjoy shooting some arrows. Um...I think he does:) He waits for Daddy to come home and they both head out back and shoot together. I will have to snap a together shot later.

This is their canoe.

This is fun.

And this is beautiful.

Fire Truck Time

Our local fire department had a community night last week and we were able to go with a neighborhood friend. The kids had a great time spraying out "fires", climbing on firetrucks, watching the ladders go up and seeing the jaws of life at work.  Very grateful for this opportunity and so were these kiddos:)

  

A Date With Poppy

This little boy was so excited to go biking with his Poppy! They went for a long ride, had some lunch, hit some golf balls and then some ice cream to top it all off...a boys dream come true:) Thank you Poppy!

Lydi Turns 3

Our birthday girl!

3 Years old, I can't believe it!

 We were at Gramma and Papa's over Lydia's birthday, had a great time with family as always and had a great Nemo birthday for our little girl. She is such a joy to us in so many ways. How grateful we are for the past 3 years with her! My She is growing like a little weed in so many areas. I love how she likes her babies and dollhouse AND her trucks and cars, she likes her sparkly shoes, flashy jewelry AND playing in the mud and dressing up like a cowboy or a pirate. I love her imagination and the little songs she makes up on a whim. I love her forgiving heart and her desire to help her family. I love my little baby girl:)

 And another September birthday, my Gramma celebrated her 87th year...so thankful we were here for this.

And of course playtime with cousins and Uncle Rob and devotions with Papa were highlights of the weekend.

Nemo party take two. This past weekend we celebrated with Steve's family. I don't think Lydia minded having another party, but I'm Nemoed out:)

Sweet Music

God is at work in this little boys heart, some of the things he has been saying and praying Daddy and I have been standing in awe...at the Lord's work. Nathan just started singing while swinging and thankfully he still was after I ran to get the camera. What a beautiful sweet boy song to our God!

Open Wide

Lydia had her first dentist appointment with the best dentist in the whole world. Who may that be you may ask...her Poppy of course. She did a super job, I really thought she would be scared and not even get in the chair but I think her curiosity got the best of her and did I say that she did a super job!

Big Little Girl

Last night on a routine nightly wake-up by Lydia, I go in and ask what she wants and this was our conversation:

Lydia: It's my birthday.

Tired Mommy: Not yet.

Lydia: It's my birthday soon.

Tired Mommy: Yes Honey but it's time to go back to sleep now.

This morning upon wake-up conversation:

Mommy: So it's your birthday soon.

Lydia: Yes Mommy, it's my birthday.

Mommy: I don't want you to have anymore birthdays.

Lydia: No more birthdays?

Mommy: You're not allowed to grow up anymore.

Lydia: I'm not growing up, I'm growing little.

Poor little Lydi, everybody including me keeps telling her what a big girl she is and she just wants to be a little girl:) I love my little girl!

First Family Canoe Trip

It was an absolute beautiful day for canoeing and we had a beautiful time. We went to a local dam and spent the afternoon and evening on the water and in the sand. The kids really enjoyed themselves and and both have asked a couple of times if we can do it again which we hope to be able to do before the season ends Lord willing. 

This was Lydia's first real canoe trip and she did superb and loved the waves when other boats went by (Mommy... not so much). Could Daddy look anymore serious? This is his "I am captain of this ship, hear me roar" face:)

Nathan loved being toed behind, lots of giggles...Lydia wanted to like it but didn't want to let go of the boat:) Maybe next time.

A Zooper Day

A catch up post about our Zoo trip a couple weeks ago...It was a hot hot day but the animals cooperated and we had a great time seeing the awesome animals God created. Here were some of our favorites.

Bye-Bye Boot

I'm so glad to see you go. Don't get me wrong, I'm very thankful for you for all you did for me but I hope I will never have to see you again!

Minivan Fam

A catch up post on our newest purchase. We finally joined the minivan world and we love it! Mom loves it, the kids love it and yes, Daddy loves it too:) It is an amazing invention and we are very thankful to own one and pray it will be part of our family for a long time. It was very sad to have to say good-bye to Steve's Honda, he had it for 16 years and it was our date car. It served us very well.

Mooo

Yesterday was National Cow Appreciation Day and we went to Chick-fil-A to celebrate with them. What one Mom would do to not have to cook or clean up dishes:) We had a great time being silly cows together, eating free meals and playing in their kids area. And yes, I will be storing these outfits in the attic for next year:)

 Eat More Chicken!